Texans offensive lineman David Quessenberry, center, participates in a Relay for Life cancer benefit Saturday in Carlsbad, Calif.

Texans offensive lineman David Quessenberry, center, participates...

Bracelets have been made. T-shirts will be printed. The player's name and the word "strong" have been stamped on the front of the Texans' 2014 training-camp media guide.

That wasn't enough for the heart and core of a rebuilding team.

Duane Brown, Chris Myers and Ben Jones proudly paid public tribute to cancer-stricken teammate David Quessenberry on Sunday. And two of the longest-standing and most-respected athletes in blue and red said the Texans' offensive line is devoting its 2014 season to a player who no longer is healthy enough to battle beside them.

"With everything going on with David right now, this season is obviously going to be dedicated to him," Myers said after the Texans' second day of training camp.

Teammates stopped by daily at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in mid-June, when Quessenberry was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma. Jones and several Texans players soon took their much-loved friend to an Astros game, while a recent Twitter image of a shaved-head Quessenberry showed the 2012 sixth-round pick doing pull-ups with a proclamation that read, "Cancer messed with the wrong dude."

But Quessenberry, 23, never thought his teammates would dedicate an NFL season to his name.

"It's hard to put into words what it means to have the support of your brothers on the team. … Truly, it's an honor," said Quessenberry, who recently returned to his home state of California after completing his third round of chemotherapy. "I want to do them proud. I want to come back stronger and … help these guys win, when I do come back eventually.

Linemen already wear "Quessenberry Strong" bracelets, and future T-shirts will raise awareness about lymphoma, while highlighting Quessenberry's ongoing fight against the disease. Jones continues to send uplifting text messages to Quessenberry, who participated Saturday in a Relay for Life event in Carlsbad, Calif., which honored cancer survivors and victims, and saw 42 members of team DQStrong raise $11,150.

At the fundraiser, Quessenberry was allowed to wear a cancer-survivor T-shirt. Surrounded by friends, family, new faces who were resiliently fighting a private battle and others who were still overcoming the loss of loved ones, Quessenberry felt stronger than he could have imagined.

"It's hard to put into words what exactly it (means)," Quessenberry said. "But as someone who is battling cancer, when you can see people's success stories, when you see people, what they're going through … it gives you hope. That's what it does. It gives you hope for a better future."

Since first-year coach Bill O'Brien took over the Texans, the no-nonsense leader has preached team first, individuals last. The offensive line's DQ movement is another import- ant building block for a squad that fell apart in 2012 and only became more selfish as the season unraveled.

"(Quessenberry is) an inspiration," Texans general manager Rick Smith said. "He's going to battle, and he's got a wonderful outlook and attitude about just the process that he's working through, and we're supporting him as much as we can."

Since the diagnosis, Jones said Quessenberry often has been in treatment at M.D. Anderson or stuck inside his residence as he awaits another three- or five-day round of chemotherapy. When his white-blood cell count rises, Quessenberry is allowed to return home. If it falls, the Texans aren't allowed to see their sequestered teammate.

"Every night before we go to bed, we say a prayer for the man," Jones said.

Since mid-June, Quessenberry and the Texans have often been separated by less than five miles but forced to live in two different worlds. Sunday, they were about 1,500 miles and three states apart. The Trench Life brothers easily bridged the distance with a few words, making sure Quessenberry knew the 2014 season now belonged to him.

"We're dedicating it to him, and we go out and battle like he's right beside us," Brown said.